Adriane Midnight Storm
by StoneStorm22995
Summary: Adriane Midnight Storm has always been a little weird, but now she supposed she could be classified as completely and totally abnormal. She, with three new friends, James, Fred, and Clare, are selected to go to a special boarding school for children with "special talents," but what will happen to the friends she left behind?
1. Prologue: Adriane Midnight Storm

**Prologue**

Madame Beaumonde, of St. Elizabeth de Farge Orphanage didn´t know what to do. She had seen almost everything in the way of children. Children tearing up couches. Children breaking down doors. Children trying to saw down a tree. She had even seen children being quiet! But never, NEVER in her life, had she seen a child on the ceiling. Not tied to the ceiling. Not climbing on the rafters. But literally sitting upside down on the ceiling. Acting perfectly normal.

It was a young girl of barely five years of age, acting as if the floor were the ceiling and the ceiling were the floor. She had been up there all day. First running around, laughing. Then talking animatedly to the children on the floor. When it was naptime, she lay down to take a nap. When it was time for lunch the older children, thinking it was a great joke, tossed food up to her, and she caught it laughing. Always there were children underneath her, the youngest children asking excitedly how THEY could do that. The children just a little older discussing who could have created such a brilliant prank. It was great fun to make Mrs. Beaumonde hysterical. The oldest of all (and perhaps the more practical youngsters) wondering how this was possible.

Still she was on the ceiling. All the way through dinner, all the way through bedtime she sat, played, cried, and napped all on the ceiling. Finally, Mrs. Beaumonde decided that there was nothing for it. She decided to call the police.

The police refused to come. Why would a child be on the ceiling? Maybe Mrs. Beaumonde should sit down and have a strong cup of tea. It was perfectly understandable that she may get a little stressed with all those children to manage. Find somebody to fill in for her for the day, and have a lie in. But not once did they mention any way to get a child off of the ceiling.

She talked to the girl. Coaxing her to get down, then begging, then bribing, but the girl would not budge! She talked to Madame Beaumonde: reciting her alphabet, requesting stories, crying over lost friends, crying for her mother, but she never got off the ceiling.

All night she slept on the ceiling. Madame Beaumonde paced and fretted and worried. She asked advice from everybody: her family, her friends, her aunt. She even called her second cousin once removed who she NEVER talked to, but she couldn't get the child off the ceiling!

The clock ticked farther and farther into the night.

**9:00 P.M.**: An hour after the young girls bedtime. She was asleep.

**10:00 P.M.**: Preteens bedtime.

**10:30 P.M.**: The room with the young girl in it was roped off.

**11:00 P.M.**: All older kids have to go to bed.

**11:30 P.M.**: Madame Beaumonde fell asleep in her chair.

**12:00 A.M.**, midnight: The young girl wakes up and promptly starts bawling.

Madame Beaumonde shot out of her chair in surprise. Then she sat down again calmly thanking whatever all powerful entities existed that the other children's beds were in the west wing, and the staff's beds were in the north. The child and herself were in the east wing.

And now she had a different problem: how on this Earth could she calm down a child on the ceiling.

She sat down in her chair. Then, there was a crash of thunder. The child started crying louder. Crying at the midnight storm. At this rate of luck, Madame Beaumonde wondered if the children in the west wing would wake up anyway. She sighed.

She tried to comfort her. No luck and, "YOUR NOT MY MOMMA!" was all she got.

"I know I'm not your momma, but I still care about you... no shhh ... shhh, just go back to sleep..."

"I don't want to sleep!" the child wailed, though Madame Beaumonde (perhaps a little hopefully) thought that she detected a slight drop in the child's tremendous volume. Then, there was a crash of thunder, and the child cried louder. Well...this was NOT how she thought that she would spend her **Friday night**. In fact, this was not how she expected to spend ANY night. At all. Ever.

The child's cries (Madame Beaumonde had been unable to calm the girl down) had finally died down around **3:00 A.M.** and Madame Beaumonde was FINALLY able to go to sleep.

HP

The next morning when Madame Beaumonde woke up she was suprised. Why was she in the east wing? She was in a small room that was roped off on all three sides, and early morning sunlight was filtering through the curtained window. She was sitting in a high backed wooden chair, and in front of her, on the ground, was a small girl. Madame Beaumonde recognized her; she had been brought in a couple of weeks ago. Until now Madame Beaumonde didn't even realize she didn't know her name.

The girl was curled up on the floor asleep, her mouth open slightly, and a small noise (that sounded suspiciously like a snore) was coming from her mouth. She had dark, straight hair, cropped up around the ears, and she looked happy and peaceful.

Madame Beaumonde stared. She had woken up, in the east wing, with a child, and had absolutely no memory of the previous day, and a strong suspicion that it was Easter, though she KNEW that they had celebrated that holiday only a few weeks before. And, even now the child was waking up.

"Good Morning Madame Beaumonde," said the little girl respectfully. "It was fun being on the ceiling!"

"What!?"

"On the ceiling, it was fun." Madame Beaumonde was struck by how peculiar it was to be looked at by a child as if you had two heads.

"...Of course it was... what's your name?"

"Adriane, but I like it when people call me Stormy. Johnny calls me Stormy. I like the name Stormy. Johnny said that he liked the name Midnight too, but I told him I liked the name Stormy better so he agreed to call me Stormy. Do you like the name Stormy?" Adriane looked at Madame Beaumonde expectantly.

"Yes, I do honey, but I was asking for your full name."

"Adriane, weren't you listening? Adriane Midnight Storm."

It was a strange experience to be struck by a strong sense of irony, and to have no idea why. "Is that what your teachers call you sweetheart?"

"Yep!"

Suddenly Adriane jumped up and said, "Johnny! Johnny probably wants me to tell him ALL about what it was like on the ceiling. I better go."

Before Madame Beaumonde was able to get in more than a few short words, Adriane 'Midnight Storm' was gone.

Madame Beaumonde sighed and rubbed her temples. She had a headache! Suddenly there was a huge crash from outside the East window. She peered outside to see a tree cut down, and a bright turquoise haired young man disappear. So once in all Madame Catherine Beaumonde´s long days at St. Elizabeth de Farge Orphanage she had absolutely no idea what to do.

HP

**This is not my work. These are not my characters if you recognize them. Why was Teddy there for a standard underage wizard spectacular magic memory charm? This all belongs to J.K. Rowling.**


	2. Sapphire

**Sapphire**

Adriane was very angry. She had looked everywhere. From the basement to the rooftop. From the south wing to the north wing. From the west wing to the east wing. She had even snuck into Madame Beaumonde's office (with a very high risk to her eardrums she'd have you know) all to find her friend and sister, who had both completely and totally disappeared.

Her sister wasn't really related to her, but in this orphanage there were only so many adults, so the children deemed 'more responsible,' which was very relative, got to have 'siblings.' When Adriane was seven, she had been called into Madame Beaumonde's office (she was worried for the health of her eardrums then, too) and informed that a sixth month old baby was now her little sister. Then, Adriane was very not pleased. Now, she loved the girl, Sapphire, more than anything she had ever known. Though, if you asked her at this moment she would probably have responded that she was a little traitor.

She had been playing hide and go seek, (there was only so much to do, and the children in the orphanage didn't normally have electronics). Sapphire had promptly said she wanted to be on Johnny's team, and had told Adriane that she had to find them before grabbing Johnny's hand and running off. Johnny had looked rather pleased with himself. Adriane probably looked about as happy as she felt.

After waiting 'five minutes' (it was probably more like two, considering how fast she counted) she had started looking...and looking...and looking...until it was forty-five minutes later, and she was sick and tired of looking.

She supposed she had started off in the wrong direction, and Johnny had taken full advantage of that, and hid rather elaborately. Johnny had a tendency to be dramatic. She was far above that of course.

She looked around the small room she found herself in now. It had three sides with doors in them, and a window looking out onto a lawn with a small tree stump in the middle. She smiled to herself. This was the room were she had been on the ceiling.

She didn't know if that was real or fake anymore. It seemed so ridiculous. Her. On the ceiling. But, if she closed her eyes she could remember a shadow of a memory.

Everything was turned upside down, and she was right side up. Running to tell Johnny what it felt like, and have him not remember. Nobody remembered.

He had believed her at first, but one day, when she talked about it, he had asked why he couldn't have cool dreams like that. She had convinced him again, but from that day on there had been doubt. He had eventually just thought of it as a cool dream his best friend in the world had had when she was a little kid. Who knew, maybe it was. She would probably think so, if not for the other weird things that kept happening to her. All those weird things...

She heard a giggle. It was stifled quickly, but there it was. They were in this room; she knew it! If she couldn't tell the sound of her own little sister's giggle, then she could not be called a big sister. She knew she wasn't, but _that_ wasn't the point.

How could they be hiding in this room? There were no cabinets to climb into, no couches to hide behind, no tables to duck under, all there was was a high-backed wooden chair resting in the corner. And it was old. She turned slowly on the spot, amusedly entertaining the idea of hidden doorways. Then, she glanced up. She glanced back down. She looked back up again, and stared. Johnny and Sapphire were siting on the rafters. Sapphire was smiling like a maniac. Johnny burst out laughing.

"... How did you even get _up_ there?!" Johnny was really cracking up now.

"A magician...does…not reveal...his secrets...Storm," he said, between gasps of laughter.

"Seriously," Adriane said, completely shell-shocked, "How does that even WORK?"

"Say...please," said Johnny, still laughing, though he seemed to have, maybe, calmed down a little.

"Please," Adriane deadpanned, still staring up at them.

Sapphire started chanting teasingly, "You couldn't find us! YOU couldn't find us!"

Adriane seemed to shake herself a little, and teasingly glared at her, "Johnny's been teaching you bad habits!" Sapphire stuck out her tongue at her. "I'm not kidding though, Johnny, how the HECK did you get up there!"

Johnny reached into his dad's army jacket he always wore (that was at least five sizes to big)...and pulled out a grappling hook.

"You used a GRAPPLING HOOK, are you INSANE!" said Adriane, beginning to laugh too, "You could have gotten hurt! Gosh Johnny, SAPPHIRE could have gotten hurt! Why do you even know how to use that!? Why do you even HAVE that!?"

"It was my dads," said Johnny, giggling in a very unmanly manner, "and don't worry, I helped Sapphire up, she couldn't have gotten hurt." Adriane and Johnny's eyes met. They started laughing their heads off. A little gasp went unheard by them, and half a second too late, they noticed Sapphire falling. The laughter died on their lips.

Adriane never really clearly remembered what had happened after that. All she knew is Sapphire seemed to slow down, and the last few seconds before she hit the floor seemed suspended in time. And Sapphire wasn't moving.

HP

Madame Beaumonde had known several children who had fallen off the rafters, and she had been worried out of her mind each time. Sure, it was a fairly short drop from the ceiling to the floor, but if they fell and hit their head... That was the reason that she was up in the middle of the night (again) in the hospital (again) and was very, very relieved (again) for the safety of one of her children.

She guessed they weren't _her_ children, but they might as well have been. Despite their incomprehensible desire to turn every single situation into a dangerous one.

She glanced at the two children sitting in front of her. Johnny was dozing on Adriane's shoulder, and Adriane had her eyes wide open, as if hyperactive from to much candy. She refused to go to sleep until she was allowed in to see Sapphire. She had taken this hard, assuming automatically that this was somehow her fault. Madame Beaumonde had tried to comfort her several times, but had been unsuccessful.

Several hours ago they had been informed that she was fine, but would be staying overnight in the hospital. Adriane had taken this news as a pronouncement of her death. She had wanted to see her the moment the nurse came out off the ward the first time, but was informed that they were not to be allowed in the ward until 1:00 A.M. And, though the nurses had brought Adriane in for a few moments to assure Sapphire that she was all right, being taken out of the ward so the nurses could work without distraction seemed even worse to her than not being able to see her at all.

At around 10:00 P.M. the nurse had taken Madame Beaumonde aside and told her that, despite the broken arm, Sapphire seemed to be in remarkably good shape. It was more as if she had fallen a foot, with her arm twisted strangely under her, than as if she had fallen ten. Almost no bruising. The overnight was simply to assure that nothing else was wrong.

Madame Beaumonde had of course passed this information on to Adriane and Johnny immediately. Johnny seemed immensely relieved, but Adriane seemed not to have heard at all. She certainly didn't give any indication that she had done so.

Adriane had been sitting in front of her, seemingly wide awake, for the past few hours. After Madame Beaumonde had informed Johnny that Sapphire was all right Johnny had tried to stay awake, but seemed to be just unable to manage it. It was around eleven that Johnny had fallen asleep. His spiky brown hair was brushing Adriane's tanned cheek, and his lightly freckled face was troubled. From the way he was mumbling it seemed that he, too, was convinced that Sapphire's fall was his fault.

Madame Beaumonde had questioned them as to the nature of _why_ they had been on the rafters. (Her voice raised slightly higher than she had intended it to, but it wasn't as if she was _yelling_. At least that's what she told herself.) She had managed to get most of the truth from them, (...hide and seek...grappling hook...on the rafters...falling...) but it all seemed to show that Sapphire should be more injured than she was.

Falling ten feet, though not as bad as some injury causes Madame Beaumonde had seen, was not something to wink at. She had expected much more than a broken arm at the least...and she didn't want to think about the worst that could happen. She looked at Adriane again. She was still just sitting.

Madame Beaumonde was proud of the relationships that were sometimes forged in her orphanage. The connections that some of the children made to each other were beautiful. Adriane and Sapphire were not blood relatives, but they may as well have been. Adriane had taken care of Sapphire since she had been assigned as her big sister. And, honestly, Sapphire had been taking care of Adriane, too. It was wonderful, and worth more to Madame Beaumonde than money ever could be. That was probably good, however, because being the director of an orphanage was NOT something you do because of the money.

The hour passed by slowly, minute by minute crawling by. Outside there was a crack of thunder, and lightning flashed. The glass pane shook from the dull thrum of rain hitting it. A midnight storm. Adriane moved for the first time in about an hour. She looked outside, her brow furrowed. Then a nurse came out from the ward and announced that it was now okay for Adriane to come inside.

Adriane sat up suddenly. Then, smiling like a maniac, grabbed Johnny's hand (who was still sleeping) and dragged him with her as she rushed into the room. He woke up halfway from the waiting area to the door, and protesting weakly, he managed to find his feet.

She dashed inside the hospital room, and collapsed in the nearest chair…relieved, when she saw Sapphire sound asleep, and unharmed, despite the cast on her arm. Suddenly, she shifted, and opened her eyes toward Adriane.

"Hey you," she said tiredly and with a small smile on her face.

"Hey you," said Adriane, clear relief in her voice. She stood back up and walked over to Sapphire's bed, brushing away a stray strand of hair that was falling before her eyes.

"I'm sorry I was teasing you," she whispered hoarsely, but with love evident in her voice.

"Mei-mei, that's the silliest thing you could ever be worrying about right now." Adriane smiled gently. "You're my little sis, and your teasing is part of the reason I love you."

Sapphire tiredly looked at Johnny, who was standing a little sadly in the doorway. "You don't have to worry, I forgive you. It wasn't your fault in the first place!" She smiled at him sweetly. "Plus, Adriane doesn't think it's your fault."

"...you are the smartest seven year old I've ever met. Did you know that?" Johnny said after a moment.

Sapphire's eyes began to close again, "Oh, and Stormy..."

"Yes sweetie," said Adriane softly.

"Thank you for saving me." Adriane looked down at Sapphire, now asleep, her eyes confused and her brow furrowed.

"... but I didn't save you."

HP

**This is J.K. Rowlings world. Also, if you recognize any names from any other fandoms you may or may not be part of it is probably because they are - their house does not reflect the character, it reflects when I thought of their name or when I was stuck, looking for a name, and decided to flip through some of my favorite books. THANK YOU FOR READING!**


	3. Johnny

**Johnny**

Adriane had been friends with Johnny for almost as long as she could remember. She arrived at St. Elizabeth de Farge Orphanage when she was only five years old. Johnny made friends with her almost immediately. He was a cheerful, talkative boy that had looked at a small, skinny, sad, and friendless little five-year-old girl, and decided that this little girl could be his best friend. He brought her out of her shell, and helped her recover from the trauma of losing both her parents in a fire. He helped her make a new life for herself.

Adriane had only fuzzy memories of her parents. She retained fuzzy memories of birthdays, and a normal school, and hugs, and lullabies; but she couldn't even recall her father's face or her mother's voice. She still carried a little of the pain with her, but she had found a new family in Johnny and Sapphire, and even Madame Beaumonde. It was an old pain, but Adriane was comfortable with it. It helped make her what she is.

She lost her parents when she was four, and was sent to an orphanage that she didn't like, couldn't quite recall the name of, and wasn't in any hurry to find out. Some things are best left to lie. She had been miserable there. When she went to St. Elizabeth de Farge's Orphanage it seemed like a paradise. And, there had been Johnny.

Johnny found her almost the second she entered the door, and showed her around. He'd been in this orphanage from the time that he was only months old, and had made friends with anybody who would talk to him, and even the ones that wouldn't. He would just sit (or stand) there and talk their ear off. Adriane and Johnny just...stuck. Even when he became more introverted (which meant he was actually able to _breath_ when talking) he stayed Adriane's best friend. He managed to turn a small, skinny, sad, friendless little girl into an excitable, hyper, happy, and adventurous kid in under a month.

It wasn't as if Adriane's personality did a complete 180 degrees. She still had trouble talking to people other than Johnny, but Johnny made her sometimes forget to be shy. She would still at times would cry into her pillow, but Johnny would find her (no matter where she was hiding) and cheer her up. He couldn't be deterred or turned away. He would just keep going at it until Adriane laughed.

It wasn't as bad anymore; Adriane had grown up a little from when she had been five. She had realized around seven that she was lucky, and she decided that she was right where she was meant to be. Little baby Sapphire had helped with that, and of course, so had Johnny.

He helped her through good times, and bad times. If Sapphire was like a little sister to Adriane, then Johnny would be her big brother. It was beautiful.

By the time the school year started (Adriane came to St. Elizabeth de Farge Orphanage during the summer) they were almost never apart. The only time you saw one without the other was when they were separated into boys and girls dorms for the night. Even then they were very possibly sneaking around the orphanage together. They would sit together in class, eat together at lunch, do homework together, play together, and meet everyday by the old stump in the yard after they woke up. (Adriane had vague memories of there being a tree there the first few weeks, but she couldn't remember why it had been cut down.) Strangers coming to the orphanage to adopt (though they were few and far between) could tell that they were as close as the closest of siblings, and closer than many. And Sapphire became a part of it all.

Sapphire was accepted by Johnny instantly. Perhaps, Johnny was close to her even before Adriane was. Sapphire had grown up knowing with all her heart that Adriane and Johnny would be there for her. They had loved, laughed, played, fought, and stood by each other, and Adriane had promised Sapphire that they would forever and after. Sapphire was there with them her whole life, and Adriane and Johnny had no intention of excluding her any time soon. Sapphire and Johnny were people that Adriane was herself with, and she could tell them anything. They were best friends. And _that _didn't ever need to change.

HP

The window was open, and a light breeze was pulling at the curtains surrounding it. The room was plain, but very homely, with the feel that people lived happily there. A line of beds rested against one wall, and there were two doors leading out of it. One, presumably, led to the restroom, and one led to the boy's side of the west wing. Adriane, Johnny, and Sapphire were in one room of the boy's dormitory, and were sitting around the end of Johnny's bed. The breeze was pulling at Sapphire's long blonde hair. They were laughing.

"You are psychotic," gasped out Adriane. She hadn't laughed this hard in a while. It was the pleasant kind of laugh that made your sides ache from laughing so hard. The kind that you laugh and laugh until you forget why you're even laughing and are just laughing for the fun of it.

"I'm a bad man," Johnny managed to croak out.

"Says the eleven-year-old," Sapphire mumbled through a fit of giggles.

"Says the seven-year-old," Johnny retaliated, smiling.

"I can't believe you _did_ that," Adriane laughed, "what even gave you the idea?"

"You. Again. I sometimes think I would just stumble around blindly, bumping into walls if you weren't here."

"You would," Sapphire broke in.

"OY! That was a figure of speech!" They were all still laughing. "Remember when you said I should jump off the roof, and my head might work better?"

"Yes...," said Adriane apprehensively.

"Well I thought, 'maybe she's right.'"

"So you JUMPED of the ROOF," said Sapphire, shaking your head.

"In front of the whole school!" Adriane exclaimed. Sapphire and Adriane looked at each other. They understood each other perfectly. Adriane laughed.

"And did a flip in the air," said Sapphire giggling.

"Because you _obviously_ didn't want to be the center of attention," Adriane added on.

"It was..." Johnny tried to put in.

"And landed on your feet." Sapphire talked cheerfully over Johnny.

"To be yelled at by Madame Beaumonde," said Adriane, laughing again.

"She DID think it was funny," mumbled Johnny.

"And to be put in detention for a _week_," said Sapphire in a scandalized tone.

"Not to mention the danger you put yourself in." Adriane raised her eyebrows.

"Why do you always end up falling off high places?" asked Sapphire exasperatedly to the air.

"I _jumped_ this time!" Johnny said indignantly. Adriane and Sapphire cracked up.

"You did the last time, too," Adriane gasped when she was calm enough to actually make any sound besides hysterical laughter.

"That was different!" Johnny whimpered, acting surprisingly akin to a dog that has been cornered. "And you say I'm teaching Sapphire bad habits! You two teamed up on me." Johnny's face had taken on a very unmanly pout.

"It is funny how you weren't hurt at all though," said Sapphire thoughtfully.

"I could very easily take that as offensive," said Johnny to a mercifully listening wall. The wall was very understanding.

"Really though! I fell a shorter distance than that, and I still broke an arm!" Sapphire exclaimed.

"I do take gymnastics." Johnny continued talking to the wall.

"You fell_ twice_ as far as I did." Sapphire continued as if she couldn't hear Johnny, "and Adriane saved me, too."

"I didn't!" Adriane protested.

Sapphire acted as though she couldn't hear either of them. She faced the opposite wall. "Why can older kids be so _stupid_?" She obviously found that it was nice to be listened to, too. She turned back to Adriane and Johnny after a moment, anyway. She looked thoughtful. "I actually _don't_ think Adriane helped you. I think you just had a lot of dumb luck."

"I _do_ do gymnastics!" Johnny said, just as Adriane exclaimed gleefully, "Emphasis on DUMB!"

"OY!" Johnny said again, "You know I _do _have feelings, you know. Despite all evidence to the contrary, I am **not** a blind ape, bumping off of walls."

"All evidence to the contrary," Adriane snorted, laughing, "you mean every time you open you mouth?"

"You guys are _mean_!" Johnny said exasperatedly. "I am hurt." When Sapphire and Adriane laughed he looked affronted. "I am, really! Shot in the heart."

"I'm sure you are Johnny," said Adriane, shaking her head. "I am sure you are." He and Adriane smiled at one another.

And so it came to pass, that a week after Adriane's eleventh birthday the three friends were acting just as friends should. Unaware that one of them was going to leave. Unaware that one of their lives was going to be rocked at the foundations. And unaware that even the farthest of gaps between them, wasn't going to keep them apart.

"I love you guys, do you know that?" Johnny smiled after he had calmed enough to talk.

"The feelings mutual," said Adriane smiling at Johnny and Sapphire, "I could never live without you."

HP

**The plot thickens... kinda, sorta, actually, not at all. Sorry about the short choppy/clumsiness of this chapter. It was REALLY hard to write, and like I said, it turned out a little choppy :) None of this is mine. I didn't gain the rights to Harry Potter since the last time I posted. THANKS FOR READING! \o/**


	4. Professor Eliza

**Professor Eliza **

St. Elizabeth de Farge Orphanage had been standing since the dawn of time. At least, that's what the children thought. In reality the saint of great morality and character: St. Elizabeth (who nobody had ever seen any record of), decided to be charitable and build an orphanage about two hundred years prior. And she was never seen again.

Among Johnny, Adriane, and Sapphire there was much speculation about how St. Elizabeth de Farge Orphanage was _really_ founded, each theory crazier than the last. Aliens was a popular one, magic another, but they, like so many other great minds tackling a question, may never know.

Madame Beaumonde had come to St. Elizabeth de Farge Orphanage about twenty-five years ago, when she was much more eager to serve, and did not quite imagine that the majority of the time she would be being tackled by children. She still loved her job, don't get me wrong, but even the best of jobs gets old if you haven't done anything else for the last twenty-five years. Even when the kids were taken on vacation she would be monitoring the children, and was not able to have fun for herself. The closest she got to a day off was when she slept in sick. It would make anyone a little brain fried.

Still, she caused St. Elizabeth de Farge Orphanage to flourish. Pouring much of her salary back into the orphanage, she was able to make many renovations and improvements to the sight. The orphanage was expanded, and electricity and plumbing were added (much to the children residing there at the times relief,) and furniture was updated and replaced.

Her proudest accomplishment, however, was a school. It had been built next to the sight of the orphanage through her efforts, and, being a quite creative person, she named it St. Elizabeth de Farge's Learning Center. This was predominately the reason that she was rather disappointed when the fireplace in the main hall had been blown apart.

Madame Beaumonde prided herself on not being easily surprised. Having spent twenty-five years working with children, many of whom were rather rambunctious, caused her to expect the unexpected. She did however never expected for the boarded up fireplace in the entrance hall to be torn apart, and, as if that weren't enough, for a women to walk out of it covered in ash, calling herself Professor Eliza, and seeming to know all about one of her children. And she claimed magic existed. She couldn't have been more than twenty.

"Let me get this strait," Madame Beaumonde said steadily, "A world of magic that has existed since mankind's creation exists, but has conveniently been in hiding for the past two-thousand years." The women covered in ash and wearing navy robes in front of her nodded amiably. "They also travel by fireplace, which is why the one we are currently standing next to is blown apart." Another nod, though slightly apologetic this time. "And, you expect me to leave you alone in the room of one of the children_ under my care_ so you can explain this all to her." The woman nodded again. There was a long pause. "...Absolutely bonkers."

The woman in front of her started speaking cheerfully, not perturbed at all of the accusation of insanity. In fact, she seemed to be quite enjoying herself. "If the child is in the care of an orphanage, the patron is usually not told, but as you were standing in the room as I flooed...that's the traveling by fireplace, I thought it better to explain it to you. I am a quite good judge of character, and you seem truly fond of Adriane. Also, I _detest_ memory charms. Can't preform a satisfactory one myself, and I never liked the idea of messing with anybody's head." The women shrugged as if this was a perfectly normal and understandable dislike to have. "I would be willing to prove it to you if you would like." The woman took out a stick.

Madame Beaumonde looked at the thin piece of wood disbelievingly. She glanced back up at the visitor. She glanced back down at the stick. She straitened her back and gently, but firmly, stated, "If you like, I could phone your relations. I'm sure they'd be here to pick you up soon. They're probably worried sick."

The woman in front of her smiled sympathetically. "I didn't believe it myself at first," she laughed gently, pointed the wand at a board that had been blown of the fireplace. "Commutatus Passerculus" She gave the wand a little jab. The board turned into a sparrow with a little pop.

HP

Several minutes later the woman, Professor Eliza, was sitting in front of Madame Beaumonde's desk, while Madame Beaumonde treated herself to a strong cup of tea.

"Don't worry," Professor Eliza said cheerfully, "It's really an understandable reaction. In fact, you're taking this fairly well, usually people have started screaming at me by now." Professor Eliza blinked at Madame Beaumonde as though seeing her for the first time. "Why haven't you started screaming at me?"

In fact, now that it was mentioned, Madame Beaumonde thought that screaming at Professor Eliza was a very appealing idea, not that she would of course. She had checked and double-checked for any sign of something out of place, hidden panels, strings, a nearby cage, anything, while Professor Eliza waited nearby seemingly interested in the ceiling. Still, she could find no indication of deceit.

She didn't exactly _believe_ this 'Professor Eliza,' but Madame Beaumonde was a much more open-minded person than people gave her credit for, nearing on sixty. So, instead of doing the appealing thing, and start screaming at Professor Eliza she merely grunted into her tea something that Professor Eliza was pretty sure was, "Bad for my lungs."

Professor Eliza nodded, paused for a second, and then, as though honestly curious, pointed to the laptop computer on Madame Beaumonde's desk and asked, quite innocently, "What's that?"

Madame Beaumonde hesitated for a long moment looking at Professor Eliza. The woman didn't even recognize a computer. She said, "I think I'll need more proof."

Professor Eliza looked confused, "Proof of what, I only wanted to know what that was. It's electronic isn't it? I love the telly, especially 'Wizards and Aliens,' I find it fascinating!"

Madame Beaumonde hesitated again, trying to figure out how to phrase her next comment politely, and then decided that if she was going to be polite, this conversation wouldn't go anywhere.

"If you don't know what a computer is you've been living in a closet," she stated blandly.

Professor Eliza looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Yes...well, the wizarding world is cut of from the muggle one...muggles are normal people, so, well, I don't really know much about what muggle contraptions are like," she gestured helplessly in front of her, "like…cumputators. The wizarding world is usually about a generation behind the muggle world in the terms of technology." She shrugged helplessly.

Madame Beaumonde, who was gaining confidence that, in fact, the sparrow had been a trick, and her eyes had deceived her, or maybe that she was just suffering from a lack of sleep (which was an honest possibility,) said, "I still believe I need more convincing."

Professor Eliza seemed quit used to this sort of thing. She didn't seem at all surprised that a second go around of magical evidence was needed. She just gave a little shrug, and taking out the stick again pointed it at the desk and said loudly and clearly, "Wingardium Leviosa," swishing the stick through the air, and then giving her wrist a little flick.

HP

Another few minutes later Madame Beaumonde had given up on the tea. She went down to the cellar, and arrived a few minutes later with a large glass of brandy, and was even treating herself to some as she went up the stairs. Madame Beaumonde did not drink much alcohol, and the brandy she was drinking was only for special guests, but, Madame Beaumonde reasoned, there was a special guest sitting right in front of her, and Madame Beaumonde needed something to drink.

"Tell me more about the school that Adriane is going to," she said, feeling much more willing to listen now that she had something to wash all new information away with. Madame Beaumonde did not have a good head for alcohol, and was now drinking it in generous amounts.

Professor Eliza, who had been wondering when the brandy would be broken out, smiled jovially at a smiling Madame Beaumonde. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is recognized as one of the best schools for magic worldwide. It accepts witches and wizards from all around the world, but any witch or wizard living in Britain or Ireland is _automatically _accepted, including muggleborns, or wizards and witches born to non-wizards. Around the future student's birthday, letters are sent out to the places where the children are living. However, if the student is in a situation where the information cannot be explained to the student by their caretakers, then an ambassador, like myself, is sent to explain it to them."

"Makes prefect sense," Madame Beaumonde said blearily. "I would hate to be left without an explanation." She waved her glass around. "Plus, I wouldn't believe it." She hiccupped. "I am never drinking again." She took a long swig of the drink. She hiccupped again. "HIC...Never."

Professor Eliza nodded understandingly. "You shouldn't worry. Usually people don't take this as well as you are seeming to, as I said before, and brandy is sometimes the least of our worries. Our being me and the rest of the administration team." She shrugged, "People don't like random people showing up in their fireplace and saying that their son or daughter is a wizard or witch."

Madame Beaumonde nodded empathically. "Look't it from our point of view! You step out of the _fireplace_." She looked pointedly at Professor Eliza. "Maybe you should show up in a more...non-wizardy...way."

"Maybe you're right, I should consider it in the future." Professor Eliza smiled at Madame Beaumonde. "You do realize at one point I'll actually have to _see_ the girl right?" Professor Eliza was starting to worry that Madame Beaumonde would pass out before she would have a chance to ask.

"The girl? Oh! Cause she's a," Madame Beaumonde gestured helplessly in front of her with her hands for a few moments, before saying, "...a witch. Of course! I'm sure she'll be very excited. Adriane will want to tell Sapphire and Johnny! She's never without those two."

**Hello people! THERE IS MAGIC. I couldn't wait to start writing magic, and now I have! Thank you two people that are reading this! I'm not kidding. THANK YOU FOR READING! (Beta for this will come with next chapter) :)**


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